re: #650 albusteve

at Iwo the last remaining Japanese fought it out to the death on the north end of the island…it was a huge problem all throughout the Pacific…I don’t know what to tell you…read more I guess

I’ve read Sledge and Jones and others. You didn’t give them the chance to surrender—there was always the chance that one of them would pull a grenade or just come at you. Our troops did not have much choice in the matter. Orders; clear a cave. Let’s see, send in five guys with a flashlight or use a flamethrower tank, toss in a couple of satchel charges THEN send in the five guys with a flashlight. Plan B wins. That’s what we were reduced to. In brief, you chose “either them or me.”

There is a scene in Wouk’s War and Remembrance where the sub captain, Aster, orders his men to open fire on Japanese troops who have abandoned the transport Aster has just torpedoed. The men comply and essentially massacre the survivors in the water and the lifeboats. This was based on a true incident, for which the skipper was neither commended nor disciplined. Those troops, if rescued, would have kept fighting. Horrible as it sounds, it was war.

Gotta run, gang.